LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will block an attempt by the opposition Labour Party to call a confidence vote in his government on Wednesday, a Labour spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Labour said earlier it intended to call such a vote to try to prevent Johnson remaining in power whilst his successor is chosen – a process which is expected to take up until Sept. 5. [nS8N2Y1069]
By convention the government, which controls the allocation of parliamentary business, would normally free up time for a confidence vote called by the main opposition party.
“This clapped-out government is running scared and refusing to allow time to debate Labour’s vote of no confidence motion,” the spokeswoman said, calling it an “abuse of power”. “This is totally unprecedented.”
Johnson’s spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment and the final version of parliamentary business for Wednesday had not yet been published.
(Reporting by William James and Andrew MacAskill; editing by Michael Holden)
